South Yorkshire’s valiant Freedom Riders will mark the sixth month of their campaign for the restoration of free train travel for pensioners with a lobby of Sheffield councillors today.

Public transport bosses in South Yorkshire abolished free rail travel for pensioners and disabled people in March.

But Barnsley Retirees Action Group and local disabled people responded by forming the Freedom Riders. They regularly board trains at Barnsley and refuse to pay.

Transport chiefs restored travel concessions for disabled people, but not pensioners, so the campaign continued.

Rail operator Northern Rail has mobilised police and security guards to blockade stations against the Freedom Riders.

The campaign has won the backing of trade unions, including Barnsley Trades Council and train drivers’ union Aslef.

“In the last three weeks of Freedom Rides we never had less than 50 campaigners turning up,” said Barnsley Trades Council’s Dave Gibson.

“We got 100 one day and had a solidarity rally with 80 older and disabled people present to hear trade union speakers from the Care UK strike, Tosh McDonald, vice-president of Aslef, Sam Vickers, regional secretary of the bakers’ union and Paul Russell of the National Pensioners Convention.

“Every time we attempt a Freedom Ride at Barnsley, Northern Rail pack the station with up to 20 transport police and managers to deny us entrance.

“They admit it is costing them up to £5,000 a day. The managers claim that our campaign is leading to many rail travellers refusing to pay, saying that they are Freedom Riders.”